Hello, and update on Ruby

[Katherine&Ruby]

Hello everyone! I realize it's been YEARS since I've been here, and I wanted to update all of you who remember us. We've certainly never forgotten the FDMB.

I come here for some support, and any sage advice if you have it. Apologies for the long post, but I have three years to catch you up on.

I've attached a recent summary from the Animal Medical Center, where Ruby has been going regularly to Oncology since her SCL diagnosis in 2021. They've been a godsend. Ruby is the oldest surviving cat to have ever gone through the Oncology Department at the hospital. Her SCL has been managed by, up until recently, 1.25 mg of prednisolone. She has not had any chlorambucil though after the recent ultrasound, it's not out of the picture. More on that below.

I credit this for the encouragement I have received here to feed her raw with EZ Complete. It's been the best thing for her diabetes, and her coat is shiny. She does not look like a 16 year old cat. I still get my meats from Raw Feeding Miami, a combo of pork with turkey, all boneless.

She is currently on 1.75 units Lantus. We stopped using the spreadsheet, but I can tell you her diabetes is well controlled. Would have loved to have gone off it but the prednisolone is what's keeping her alive and well.

Sadly though, this year, Ruby's health has taken a slight turn for the worse. She was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in April, that is now well controlled with methimazole. She is still drinking up a storm, which I guess is good for her CKD. Her SCL has gotten worse as per her ultrasound from October 28, so we've upped her pred dose to 4 mg per day. The US also found a pocket where urine is collecting in her kidneys, so we've had to put her on Marboflaxin, an antibiotic, for the next two weeks, though she isn't showing the usual signs of infection. We also recently started giving her Cobalamin and Catney One, a phosphorus binder that she tolerates well in her food.

The AMC doctors recommended that we take her to an Internal Medicine specialist, as her situation is quite complex now. Since the trip to AMC is stressful for us, we are seeing Dr. Randolph at Oradell.

I've attached some labs and reports for you great lab report readers out there.

Any thoughts or encouragement is welcome.

Below is a photo my sweetie from the other morning. She had just woken up.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Hi Katherine - it is a long time no see! Scritches to Miss Ruby. She looks great in her picture.

I see she's lost about a pound in this last year? She doing any better with the methimazole regarding weight? It's so hard to tell what is causing weight loss with her checking off all the common weight loss boxes of hyperT, CKD and diabetes. Though I suspect the latter not a contributor.

Prednisolone can impact kidneys and being more susceptible to infections. So keep your eyes open for any UTI symptoms with the increased pred dose. It also impacts muscles over time so you could see wasting. This year I lost my kitty (with SCL, IBD, kidney disease, pancreatic nodule, on prednisolone), 8 years after her SCL diagnosis, but due to an unrelated cancer. She was in SCL remission, not on Leukeran anymore. I'm actually surprised AMC would be suggesting Leukeran instead of the generic chlorambucil which is so much cheaper in the US. In Canada Leukeran is cheap. A more common practice for chlorambucil and SCL now is to stop after a year if asymptomatic.

If she does end up on chemo, you may get more push back on the raw fed diet. Have you ever considered lightly cooking the meat?

An IM vet is a good idea when you have a complicated kitty. I was lucky with Neko to have one 10 minutes away. The IM vet really helped with balance an prioritizing what to treat, especially when two of the diseases had contradictory treatments. Note that particular IM told me that raw food was the best thing for Neko and she had CKD level 3 at the time. He also didn't blink at the raw and chemo.

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

Hi Katherine - it is a long time no see! Scritches to Miss Ruby. She looks great in her picture.

I see she's lost about a pound in this last year? She doing any better with the methimazole regarding weight? It's so hard to tell what is causing weight loss with her checking off all the common weight loss boxes of hyperT, CKD and diabetes. Though I suspect the latter not a contributor.

Prednisolone can impact kidneys and being more susceptible to infections. So keep your eyes open for any UTI symptoms with the increased pred dose. It also impacts muscles over time so you could see wasting. This year I lost my kitty (with SCL, IBD, kidney disease, pancreatic nodule, on prednisolone), 8 years after her SCL diagnosis, but due to an unrelated cancer. She was in SCL remission, not on Leukeran anymore. I'm actually surprised AMC would be suggesting Leukeran instead of the generic chlorambucil which is so much cheaper in the US. In Canada Leukeran is cheap. A more common practice for chlorambucil and SCL now is to stop after a year if asymptomatic.

If she does end up on chemo, you may get more push back on the raw fed diet. Have you ever considered lightly cooking the meat?

An IM vet is a good idea when you have a complicated kitty. I was lucky with Neko to have one 10 minutes away. The IM vet really helped with balance a prioritizing what to treat, especially when two of the diseases had contradictory treatments. Note that particular IM told me that raw food was the best thing for Neko and she had CKD level 3 at the time. He also didn't blink at the raw and chemo.

Dearest Wendy! I had hoped to get your eagle eyes on our post and Ruby’s labs! Thanks so much for your thoughts.

Here are Ruby’s weights since 2025:

January 8, 2025: 5.46 kg (12.0 lb)
April 25, 2025: 5.43 kg (12.0 lb)
September 19, 2025: 5.34 kg (11.8 lb)
December 19, 2025: 5.18 kg (11.4 lb)
May 18, 2026: 4.60 kg (10.14 lb)
June 11, 2026: 4.59 kg (10.11 lb)
October 28, 2026: 4.5 kg (9.9 lb)

So actually she’s lost a kilo. Her weight has held steady since we started treating her with methimazole. We never noticed because she eats well, but there’s obviously some wasting happening. The diabetes is most definitely not contributing as we’re now pros at keeping her steady.

She’s on antibiotics so it should stave off any kidney or urinary tract infection.

Her oncologist at AMC, bless her heart, is not a proponent of raw feeding. I’ve been lying to her for the past 5 years about what we feed Ruby. If it comes up I will come clean but stand my ground on continuing it.

And thank you for supporting the idea of her seeing an IM. At 16 and a half, I was really torn about subjecting her to more poking and prodding by another set of strangers. Not to mention the cost. But the Oradell doctors are among the best in the Northeast, and I’m willing to do it for my Ruby-doo. She’s given me so much love and joy over these years, which represent a third of my life. I have to do my very best for her. I will however draw the line when it comes to giving her fluids. If it comes to that, I will not do it.